Emerson Hancock and Eugenio Suarez helped lift the Mariners to their fourth sweep in five series
SEATTLE — Before the Seattle Mariners series finale against the Colorado Rockies on Thursday at T-Mobile Park, the M's received great news.
The Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Guardians 4-2, which meant Seattle would be guaranteed a top-two seed in the American League and a bye through the wild card round of the postseason.
Even with a bye secured, the Mariners kept their foot on the pedal and beat the Rockies 6-2 in front of a home crowd of over 40,000 fans. The victory was Seattle's sixth consecutive series win and fourth sweep in its last five series. The Mariners improved to 90-69 on the season with the win.
"It's a mark that we've done something and we've accomplished something," M's manager Dan Wilson said in a postgame interview. "We've had a good season. Obviously, we haven't been in this position before, so (we're) understanding how to progress through the bye and we're gonna be talking about that and planning for it and getting ready for it. It does feel good, we were hoping to get that and now we're in a position to get some guys some rest."
Due to starting pitcher Bryan Woo still working his way back from right pectoral inflammation, Thursday was a bullpen day with starter-turned-reliever Emerson Hancock getting the start.
The former first-round draft pick put together arguably his best showing of the season across his tenures in both the starting rotation and bullpen.
Hancock fanned seven, allowed two hits and didn't allow a free base in four innings pitched. Five of his seven strikeouts were with his sweeper.
"It feels good," Hancock said after the game. "With my arm slot, (the sweeper) makes a lot of sense. If you can get the right grip and just trust it and rip it across the strike zone — for me, it can be a pretty good pitch."
Seattle's offense put up more than enough run support for Hancock's stellar outing.
Third baseman Eugenio Suarez got the Mariners on the board in the bottom of the second with a two-run homer. It was Suarez's 49th home run of the year, which tied a single-season career-high.
Seattle tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the fourth.
First baseman Josh Naylor scored on a fielder's choice hit by right fielder Dominic Canzone, and Randy Arozarena hit a two-RBI single to bolster the Mariners' lead to 5-0.
Suarez was responsible for Seattle's final run of the game. He hit an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth. He finished the game 3-for-4 with a run, a homer and three RBIs.
The Rockies scored one run apiece in the sixth and ninth innings, respectively.
Colorado shortstop Ezequiel Tovar hit an RBI single in the top of the sixth and designated hitter Hunter Goodman hit his own RBI single in the top of the ninth for the eventual final of 6-2.
With a bye secured, the biggest remaining questions for the Mariners will be if they finish as the No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the American League, and if catcher Cal Raleigh ties or breaks Aaron Judge's single-season AL home run record (62).
The Toronto Blue Jays lead Seattle by one game for the top seed as of Thursday and own the tiebreaker. Raleigh is currently at 60 home runs for the season.
"We still got three baseball games here," Wilson said. "And we'll be running guys out there and getting ready to play and getting at-bats for guys, as well. You kind of assess as you go and keep reading (the situation)."
The Mariners will begin their final series of the regular season in Game 1 of a three-game set against the Los Angeles Dodgers at 6:40 p.m. PT on Friday at T-Mobile Park. George Kirby will start for Seattle and Emmet Sheehan will start for Los Angeles.
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